5/22
MON

7:00PM

VIDEO TRAILER & PHOTOS

SCREENING

FILM SYNOPSIS

Set in a modern African state, this fast-moving political thriller is a vivid portrayal of a struggle for democracy and also a love story between two men united by an explosive act of political violence as the tyrant Caesar is about to seize power.

The film includes the original distinguished cast of black actors including Paterson Joseph as Brutus, Ray Fearon as Mark Antony, Cyril Nri as Cassius, Adjoa Andoh as Portia and Jeffery Kissoon as Caesar, and was shot by Illuminations on location and also in the theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon for this screen version. In addition, the DVD includes The Making of Julius Caesar documentary featuring interviews with key cast and crew.

SPECIAL FEATURE ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE FILM

CREATED FOR THE HARLEM SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALBy GREGORY DORAN

The idea for setting Shakespeare's Roman play in Africa was inspired by Nelson Mandela. One of his fellow inmates on Robben Island had a copy of Shakespeare's plays. Mandela found inspiration in Julius Caesar, and autographed lines from the play.

I then discovered that the play had been performed all over Africa. Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania, had translated it into Swahili, and Sol Plaatje, one of the founders of what would become the ANC, the African National Congress, had rendered it into Tswana. I found that fascinating. Why did this play speak so profoundly to that continent? The great South African actor, John Kani put it succinctly when he told me, "It's simple Greg, Julius Caesar is Shakespeare's African play".

We put this production together for the World Shakespeare Festival, to coincide with the London Olympics in 2012, and opened it in Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeare's home town. It subsequently played London, toured the UK and visited Moscow and New York. We were lucky enough to film the play for the BBC. The private "backstage" conspiracy scenes were filmed on location, and the public scenes, the opening and the forum scene, were filmed live in Stratford in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Our location was a derelict Chinese supermarket in North London, which had to stand in for Africa. But it allowed us to find vivid modern settings for many of the scenes, including an escalator for the assassination of Caesar.

There are lines which Cassius says after Caesar's death which find particular resonance here:

“How many ages hence Shall this our lofty scene be acted oe'r In states unborn and accents yet unknown".